To see naval officers in uniform walking around New York city in 2009 is unremarkable. Yet in November 1859 a lieutenant wrote the New York Herald to address the fact “that a great number of naval officers are seen daily in the streets and public places in uniform.” While careful to note that he was not “ashamed of [his] uniform,” this officer believed such public display was wrong. “In our republican country,” as he explained, “it is not customary for offices of either “arm of national defense” to war their uniforms, save on special occasions.”

This letter is available on House Divided – while a transcript has not been posted, you can access the page image.

3 users responded in this post

where did you get that old 1859 article? This is a great and informative post. thanks

Casual Passerby said in May 15th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

Interesting clip indeed. However even in the part shown here, the letter-writer notes that the persons in uniform are “…guilty of indiscretions, to use a mild phrase.”

One wonders at the nature of these “indiscretions.” The first that come to mind involve either ardent spirits or ladies of questionable virtue, or both, but of course neither alcohol nor prostitution had been invented during the Civil War so those could not possibly be what he was talking about.